New Cambuslang £2.2 million apartment complex opens

THE opening of a £2.2 million apartment complex in Cambuslang for former long-stay hospital patients has been marked with a promise that residents will be given a new way of life where fun is a key ingredient.

The opening of Cherry Tree Court marks the end of 15 years of work involving a partnership between South Lanarkshire Council’s Social Work and Housing Resources and NHS Lanarkshire.

The abiding goal of that work over the last decade-and-a-half has been to give individuals a better quality of life by moving them from long-stay learning disability hospital beds into new accommodation designed to suit their needs.

The Cherry Tree Court development provides flats that will allow the last 12 patients to move out from Kirklands Hospital in Bothwell.

Arklet Housing Association worked alongside the existing partnership, between the council and NHS Lanarkshire, to deliver a complex built to the highest specifications including an integral sprinkler system and full wheelchair access.

Each apartment is designed as a private home and the new residents will choose their own furniture and personalise their new home as they move in; private patios and gardens combined with internal courtyards introduce further opportunities to develop and enjoy the complex.

The Richmond Fellowship Scotland has been appointed to provide the personal care services required by the residents and has already brought to bear its expertise in recruiting and training the right individuals for the job.

Chief executive of the Richmond Fellowship Scotland, Austen Smyth, believes the whole development reflects a new ethos in care services: “This is the start of a new era for all the residents who are moving into their own homes in their own community.

“The ethos is probably one of the most important things in this type of work it is about seeing the individual as a person in their own right with their own hopes, their own ambitions, their own likes and their own dislikes.

“One of our strong value bases is we want to see people have fun in their life, we believe that is absolutely important, so it is about working with people and saying have a good life and enjoy it – what can we do to help you?

“One thing we want to be totally clear on is that while this complex isregistered with the care commissionwe do not think of it as a care home – this is not about 12 people living together this is about 12 people in their own individual flats, living their own lives in their own homes and our staff will respect that, work with that in mind and promote that idea with the residents.”

The chairman of NHS Lanarkshire Ken Corsar performed the official opening ceremony at Cherry Tree Court.

He said: “This marks the end of institutional care and the focus now being on the individual living in their own flat.”